Bitter Taste - Noob Question

Ok, so my first batch (a Bell's Two Hearted clone from AHS) has been off and going in the primary for 11 days now. So I decided to draw a sample and take quick hyrdo reading today and all looks good.

As I have been so wisely taught from these forums I couldn't resist tasting the fruits of my labor! But when I did all I could taste were the hops (good) but then followed by a very bitter aftertaste.....

OG was 1.060 and the FG is suppose to be 1.012. The hyrdo reading I took was 1.020-ish. So my question is this taste normal at this stage in the process??? What should it be tasting like at this point?

Yes it is normal, patience taste it after 3-4 weeks fermentation and 3-4 weeks in bottle/keg, You'll be happy.

The title says" Sour taste" but your post says "bitter taste". Which is it? They are quite different tastes. Just curious.

My bad.....bitter

ahhh...well then COLO is absolutely right.

It's an IPA, it should be bitter.

Does it strike you as other than hop bitterness? That isn't good.

Hop bitterness will decrease over time, probably not all that much.

annasdadhockey said:

The title says" Sour taste" but your post says "bitter taste". Which is it? They are quite different tastes. Just curious.

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Well now this post just looks silly!!!:fro:

If your beer's not done fermenting, then it will most likely have a yeasty bite to it, as well as several other off flavors that the yeast will clean up once they're done.

Once you get consistent hydrometer readings at least 2 days apart, let it sit for an additional 1-2 weeks to allow the yeast to clean up after thermselves before botlling/kegging.

This works for most 1.050ish beers. Some certain styles will benefit from extended conditioning.

remilard said:

It's an IPA, it should be bitter.

Does it strike you as other than hop bitterness? That isn't good.

Hop bitterness will decrease over time, probably not all that much.

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Yes, I know an IPA should be bitter, but this is diffenent then bitterness due to the hops.

I taste the hopiness and the bitterness associated with them but, then comes a bitter aftertaste.

What where your fermentation temperatures? You may have some off-flavors if they were a little too warm.

Temps were 70-72, so on the warm side but should still be good, right?

Also this has got me thinking......so if a bitter taste at this stage in the process should be nothing to worry about, then what about a sour taste? What would cause that?

Thanks!

a sour taste could be a possible lacto infection. It's pretty hard to infect your beer though. I wouldn't worry about it unless the taste gets noticabely worse in a week or 2.

RedHeadBrew25 said:

Yes, I know an IPA should be bitter, but this is diffenent then bitterness due to the hops.

I taste the hopiness and the bitterness associated with them but, then comes a bitter aftertaste.

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Everything is completely fine, despite the additional posts in this thread suggesting a bad fermentation temperature or bacterial infection; neither of those cause bitterness. Young beer often has a very dry-bitter aftertaste, way beyond the bitterness associated with hops (and not at all pleasant). It disappears with age, you have nothing to worry about.